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October 2010 marks the fifth anniversary of the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The Act and its implementation have been described in both administrative circles and civil society as “revolutionary” , “a blow for transparency”, “a check on corrupt practices” and “a people’s intervention tool (...)

Floods in the Indus, triggered by the heavy monsoon rain, devastate vast swathes of land and render millions homeless in Pakistan. Moving at a furious pace from the mountainous north-western region of Gilgit-Baltistan to the fertile south, the Indus river, swollen and bursting its banks (...)

June 26 may have been the last day of the U.S. Social Forum (USSF) in Detroit, but it might very well be the emergence of a more powerful antiwar movement in this country.
We can’t address the economic crisis blighting neighborhoods throughout the United States without moving money away from (...)

In a State where more than two-thirds of rural families live below the poverty line and other social indicators are as dismal, the process of industrialisation that began at the turn of the century ought to have been a cause for optimism. But, of late, people have been fighting tooth and nail (...)

Zimbabwe is currently the subject of sanctions designed to pressure Robert Mugabe and his colleagues to cease human rights abuses and remove other barriers to democratization in the country. Yet despite some recent positive developments — such as the appointment of independent commissions on (...)

Over the centuries, the poison of caste has been variously sung about, lamented, protested, outlawed and adjudicated in this region. During that time, the economic and cultural foundations of – and, most of all, the religious sanction for – this abhorrent practice have all been sculpted to (...)

While the Iranian government has intensified its aggressive efforts to expand Internet filters, Austin Heap, a young programmer in the U.S., says he has developed software that would enable Iranians to evade their censors. Read more

The Safai Karmchari Andolan, a grass roots movement by conservancy workers is working towards banishing the inhuman practice, with admirable success. This practice of ‘manual scavenging’ is the worst surviving symbol of caste untouchability in India. It drives people into this degrading daily (...)

MEDHA PATKAR, the 56-year-old leader of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), is fighting what she calls the “final battle”. After close to three decades of protests against the damming of the Narmada river, she is battling against the Gujarat government’s attempt to raise the height of the Sardar (...)

A success story from Tamil Nadu in the field of HIV-AIDS prevention and control, involving education and communication paradigms that bring about changes in healthcare-seeking behaviour. The project’s innovation was the engagement of “high-risk group members” as community health personnel. (...)

From the LTTE to the Sinhala chauvinist forces, the Taliban to the forces of Hindutva, we have seen reactionary and rightwing forces attack our communities, but why is our solidarity and mobilisation against such reactionary forces so limited in the region? We have seen the onslaught of (...)

While the role of technology in the political struggle in Iran and elsewhere should not be overstated, it should not be underestimated either. The "next generation" controls with which authorities aim to manage the Internet mark a shift from heavy-handed filtering to sophisticated (...)

Activist Kitiry Roy’s arrest is a reminder of shrinking democratic space, says Thusha Mittal. His crime — holding a public hearing; holding the State accountable; attempting to hold the Constitution to its best face. In the FIR against Roy by the Anti-terrorist cell of Kolkata Police, the (...)

Over the past three decades, in the shadow of hostile nationalisms fuelled by radical Islamic and Hindu politics, military crises, a runaway arms race, nuclear weapons and war, an amazing set of civil society initiatives has been taking root in India and Pakistan. A citizens’ diplomacy (...)

Nonviolent rights activits in Gujarat are being branded maoists and jailed, reports Parvaiz Bukhari. Dangs is the smallest and perhaps the most scenic Adivasi district of Gujarat. As you soak in the beauty and breathe the fresh air, Ashish Pawar, a young Adivasi activist acting as a guide, (...)

Inder Sidhu travels to a remote Rajasthan village where rural African women are learning new skills to transform their lives back home. The Barefoot College NGO’s ‘solar engineer’ programme teaches semi-literate and illiterate women from the continent’s rural communities how to build and (...)

When most people think about the recent upheavals in Iran, they think of marches demanding democracy and challenging the June 12 presidential election. The face of those protests is the “Green Movement” — so called because its supporters wear green —that put millions of people into the streets (...)

The antiwar movement must go beyond challenging one war at a time. We need a deeper analysis of the structures that underlie militarism and war. Read more

In their book Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (New Press), activists and journalists Tracy Van Slyke and Jessica Clark take us on a celebratory journey through the relatively recent (over the past eight years) surge of independent, progressive (...)

As welcome as it was, the removal of George W. Bush was not enough to cure what ails the US. It goes to the root of our political system. Only real democracy can save this country. Read more